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An angry mob of Muslim men shout slogans in a Christian neighbourhood in Lahore, Pakistan | AFP

Azadi. There is a ring to the word, a stirring one. It has roused rebels, motivated poets and inspired musicians — to move into action against oppression, to throw away the shackles of convention, to break free of the constricting form and the format. It is making teenagers in Kashmir resist suppression with pebbles; it is turning many a Baloch into angry young men against systemic discrimination; it is moving farmers in Okara into staking a claim to the lands the military says it owns.

Azadi is freedom from disease and want, liberty from subjugation and independence from all forms of exploitation. Or, at least, this is what the dreamers and the idealists among us have always told us.

Azadi means no one is above or below anyone; no one is superior or inferior; no one is purer or more impure than the other. Or at least that is what we understand when we proclaim that we are free — that no one owes anything to us and we owe nothing to anyone; that no one subjugates us and we subjugate no one; that no one exploits or maltreats us and we exploit or maltreat no one.

If we look around, we are far from being azad — that is, free, as translated in a language we learnt as slaves. When no one owes anything to us, we owe billions of dollars to other states, to international financial institutions, to our own state (in evaded taxes and unpaid utility bills). When no one subjugates us (though it is debatable if no one really subjugates us considering our massive economic and strategic dependence on others), we subjugate many among ourselves: those living in peripheral regions, non-Muslim Pakistanis, women, daily wage workers and the landless peasants in central regions.

Azadi is under fire everywhere. From the vales of Kashmir to the deserts of Balochistan, from the public squares in Turkey to the streets of Bahrain, from Kabul in Afghanistan, Fallujah in Iraq and Aleppo in Syria to Paris in France and Brussels in Belgium. The state’s coercive power and terrorism’s destructive capacity are scaring the hell out of those who want to enjoy a little bit of sunshine, a small patch of moonlight, a whiff of a breeze that can give them warmth, enlightenment and rejuvenation.

Azadi has become a demand rather than a fact. It is the cry of a Hindu after his co-religionist is killed by a mob in Ghotki, Pakistan, at the hands of a Muslim mob enraged over the desecration of the Quran. It is the slogan raised in remonstration by a Dalit after his caste-comrades are stripped naked and beaten up in public in Indian Gujarat. It is the last statement of a dying young girl against her tormentors.

Azadi is August 14th. It is the celebration of independence. It is a patriotic song. It is the colour green.

A tiny group among us would want to claim that the ‘real azadi' is August 11th: the day Jinnah made a great speech, enunciating the features of a purported social contract that the new state would have with its citizens. It is an acknowledgement of our religious diversity. It is a commitment to equality. It is the colour white.

The middle of this month will mark the start of the 70th year of Pakistan’s existence — as an azad country, many constituent parts of which are not so azad. Consider women. To borrow half a phrase from Karl Marx, they were born free but everywhere they are in chains. Consider Punjabi Christians, who may have changed their religion many times over since their ancestors first thought conversion would rid them of their subhuman status, but have never been counted as free citizens, equal in rights and responsibilities as anyone else in the republic.

Consider the Baloch in Lyari, the Saraiki in Bahawalpur, the Pakhtun in Quetta, the Sindhi in Karachi — they all remain enslaved to racial profiling and ethnic discrimination. Consider a Zikri Baloch in Gwadar, a Seraiki Dalit in Rahimyar Khan, a Hindu Pakhtun in Peshawar, and a Sindhi Sikh in Shikarpur — they all will appear more bound than their Muslim counterparts in the same regions in every social, political and religious respect.

Now consider a Punjabi Christian woman working in Quetta as a midwife, or a Hindu woman from Thar employed as domestic help in Karachi — these demographic features alone are sufficient to suggest that they, perhaps, would be the most unfree Pakistanis one can ever imagine.

Azadi, this August 14th, should be observed with the solemn pledge that it will accrue to all and sundry in equal measure across Pakistan regardless of gender, caste, colour, creed and race. The unfree, the less free and the relatively free must all become free — and equal.

That is when azadi will really dawn.

This was originally published in the Herald's August 2016 issue. To read more subscribe to the Herald in print.

Mrec Large

Comments (19) Closed

Well said !..someone who loves to see a world without boundaries, and where only humanity rules, but relishes its diversity !

The DarklightAug 26, 2016 08:31am

Beautifully written :). No patriotic comments here, explains the mentality. Good job anyway

Srinivasan ThittaiAug 26, 2016 09:26am

Beautifully written and soul stirring. Loved it. Though I will not endorse Kashmiri freedom as an Indian, I still loved the philosophy behind this piece.

MudassarAug 26, 2016 09:38am

fully agree. Freedom does not mean the right to freely persecute minorities and suppress powerless people. The true meaning of freedom is liberty to all individuals - in social, political, religious and economic spheres. While the British are gone, we have not achieved real freedom.

wellwisherAug 26, 2016 09:57am

I don,t see it happening in next 100 yrs in Pakistan

Ashok SaigalAug 26, 2016 10:27am

"Azadi is freedom from disease and want, liberty from subjugation and independence from all forms of exploitation." Well said, and encapsulated in one sentence is the demand of all those in any part of the world who ask for "Azaadi". The only caveat is ..." and right to follow their own beliefs so long as they does not interfere with the similar rights of others.."

Mohamnad khanAug 26, 2016 10:35am

With due respect as patriarchy is on its peak in pakistan...Pakistan was never free ..even our founders realized that. It just a change of hands from monarchy to another..it is not even the same wine in different bottle..we got the most rotten one..I have never seen British rule but my fore father use to mention that British rule was far better than the rule they have seen in Pakistan. FolksThe shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty.. in this case the sheep are the general masses while the wolfs are the supremo, the elite and feudal society.

vishalAug 26, 2016 11:17am

You can have all types of Azadi, if you believe and act in protecting all the rights of your neighbour.

apakmuslimAug 26, 2016 12:05pm

It also sounds like the majority rules..

PatriotAug 26, 2016 12:18pm

Freedom is a state of mind. Frankly, I have experience of both corrupt Muslims and non-Muslims in Pakistan. The people have no integrity as humans and would do anything as long it suits them. Can't say much of the article because it is again dividing the nation into factions on ethnic grounds.

FitoorAug 26, 2016 12:29pm

Well, there is no azadi in real terms. A man is only Azad when he/she is free of desires and wants. And that only happens when he/she is dead. As long as a man is alive he is propelled by desires, greed and wants which become his/her undoing.

KashifAug 26, 2016 12:42pm

When you indoctrinate youth to have an irrational and fanatical approach to their inherited religion, what do you think will be the results? Perhaps time to stop religious indoctrination, and let people choose a religion of their choice when they are old enough to make that choice?

A good indianAug 26, 2016 12:58pm

Good and wonderful article from dawn. One of the most neutral and balanced newspaper in Pakistan.

amzadAug 26, 2016 03:07pm

Amount of money in pocket or length of beard decides amount of freedom in pakistan.

ImranAug 26, 2016 03:25pm

Not all struggles are equal and not all societies perfect. The brutal crackdown on the Kashmiris cannot be equated with what is happening in Okara.

TMAug 26, 2016 05:08pm

@vishal very well said Vishal. I hope that happens with your state as well, you have a history too!!!!!!!! Have you forgotten interference in SriLanka, former East Pakistan and current Balochistan!!!!!!!!!!! Things are not as simple as they seem ......... have the heart to denounce your state too for these acts.

dineshAug 26, 2016 10:35pm

really good article

Salman Aug 28, 2016 05:37pm

I live and love ethnic and religious diversity, but seriously sindhis in Karachi feel discriminated like when did that happen the government and affairs are run by PPP. The Urdu speakers are more discriminated, where did this even came from?